Wizard (character class)
Encyclopedia
The Wizard is a type of magic
al character class
in certain role-playing game
s and computer role-playing games. Wizards are considered to be spellcasters who wield powerful spells, but are often physically weak as a trade-off. Wizards are commonly confused with similar offensive spellcasting classes such as the Warlock and the Necromancer. However, a Wizard's power is based on the arcane and a Warlock or Necromancer's power is based on darkness or death. Wizards are primarily based on wizards
from assorted fantasy literature
. Other terms used to describe the classification include Mage, Magician, and Magic User.
game series, Mages are units who cast spells in order to damage an enemy. Players can transform the Mages into Sages. Mages and Sages have higher magic-resistance growths and caps, as well as above average speed. However, they almost always have poor growth in defense which makes them vulnerable to magic-resistant melee units.
series are usually known as simply mages, often with an associated color. There are multiple types of mages:
In the original Final Fantasy
, the Black, Red and White Mages would be converted to more powerful Black, Red, and White Wizards, respectively. Additionally, in the MMORPG
Final Fantasy XI
, "wizard" is synonymous for Black Mage. Also, in Final Fantasy Tactics
, Black Mages were known as Wizards in the Playstation 1 version of the game. Other Final Fantasy series featured Green Mages, mainly in the Tactics titles, but some of their abilities were merged with Black Mages or White Mages (offensive and defensive abilities respectively).
, called mages, are spell-casting characters designed to deal damage, while also preventing monsters from dealing damage and providing utility for the rest of their party. The three types of magic mages can use are fire, frost, and arcane. Fire has a high damage output with little defense power. Frost spells typically slow down a target and are capable of high burst damage and offer more defense than fire. Arcane magic offers more utility and increases damage to all three types of magic. Arcane also increases resistance greatly, mana regain, intellect, and decreases the mana cost of spells. In return for their ability to deal larger amounts of damage, mages are very poor at physical combat. They wear the weakest armor (cloth), and they have no ability to heal themselves without the use of their potions or bandages.
Another form of wizard in WoW is the Warlock, a spell-caster that uses fire and shadow magic against their enemies. Warlocks are also known for their ability to command demonic minions. Warlocks, depending on the player's style, specialize in damage-over-time spells (affliction), burst damage (destruction), and the use of their minions (demonology). Warlocks are able to regain mana at the cost of their own health, as well as drain health from their enemies.
Druids are another type of wizard, capable of transformation, healing, and casting spells. They mostly deal physical damage, nature damage, or arcane damage. Depending on the style of the druid, they can be any type of character, a fighter, tank, or healer. If the druid uses Restoration, they have healing abilities. When they use feral combat, they are stronger in melee combat, and gain the power of a warrior (bear) and the skill of a rogue (cat). While in normal form, they are like a slightly weaker version of a mage, dealing arcane and nature damage, and able to summon minions. Druids also have an advantage in combat with the use of travel form, cat form, aqua form, and even air form.
MMORPG
, "Magicians" who acquire enough experience are given the choice of becoming a "Wizard". Wizards are powerful spell-casters and have access to a wide array of area of effect
spells, including "Storm Gust", "Meteor Storm" and "Lord of Vermilion". However, they have very few hit points, poor evasion capabilities and wear very weak armour. As such, most of the wizards require the support of a "Priest" and/or other party members.
Magic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
al character class
Character class
In role-playing games, a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behaviour...
in certain role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
s and computer role-playing games. Wizards are considered to be spellcasters who wield powerful spells, but are often physically weak as a trade-off. Wizards are commonly confused with similar offensive spellcasting classes such as the Warlock and the Necromancer. However, a Wizard's power is based on the arcane and a Warlock or Necromancer's power is based on darkness or death. Wizards are primarily based on wizards
Magician (fantasy)
A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...
from assorted fantasy literature
Fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...
. Other terms used to describe the classification include Mage, Magician, and Magic User.
Fire Emblem
In the turn-based Fire EmblemFire Emblem
is a fantasy tactical role-playing video game franchise developed by Intelligent Systems , the maker of Advance Wars , and published by Nintendo...
game series, Mages are units who cast spells in order to damage an enemy. Players can transform the Mages into Sages. Mages and Sages have higher magic-resistance growths and caps, as well as above average speed. However, they almost always have poor growth in defense which makes them vulnerable to magic-resistant melee units.
Final Fantasy series
The wizards of the Final FantasyFinal Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
series are usually known as simply mages, often with an associated color. There are multiple types of mages:
- Black Mages, mages who practice offensive magic.
- Blue Mages, mages who copy enemy abilities.
- Red Mages, mages who are jacks-of-all-trades.
- SummonerSummonerSummoner Early 2000s English Rock/Metal Band.Summoner usually refers to one who performs supernatural conjuration.Summoner or The Summoner may also refer to:...
s, mages who conjure up sacred beasts and deities. - Time Mages, mages who manipulate time and space.
- White Mages, mages who practice healing magic.
- Green Mages, mages who practice Green Magic, which enhances allies' abilities and weakens enemies.
In the original Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy
is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
, the Black, Red and White Mages would be converted to more powerful Black, Red, and White Wizards, respectively. Additionally, in the MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI
, also known as Final Fantasy XI Online, is a MMORPG developed and published by Square as part of the Final Fantasy series. It was released in Japan on Sony's PlayStation 2 on May 16, 2002, and was released for Microsoft's Windows-based personal computers in November 2002...
, "wizard" is synonymous for Black Mage. Also, in Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics
is a tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Sony PlayStation video game console. It is the first game of the Final Fantasy Tactics series and was released in Japan in June 1997 and in the United States in January 1998...
, Black Mages were known as Wizards in the Playstation 1 version of the game. Other Final Fantasy series featured Green Mages, mainly in the Tactics titles, but some of their abilities were merged with Black Mages or White Mages (offensive and defensive abilities respectively).
World of Warcraft
Wizards in World of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
, called mages, are spell-casting characters designed to deal damage, while also preventing monsters from dealing damage and providing utility for the rest of their party. The three types of magic mages can use are fire, frost, and arcane. Fire has a high damage output with little defense power. Frost spells typically slow down a target and are capable of high burst damage and offer more defense than fire. Arcane magic offers more utility and increases damage to all three types of magic. Arcane also increases resistance greatly, mana regain, intellect, and decreases the mana cost of spells. In return for their ability to deal larger amounts of damage, mages are very poor at physical combat. They wear the weakest armor (cloth), and they have no ability to heal themselves without the use of their potions or bandages.
Another form of wizard in WoW is the Warlock, a spell-caster that uses fire and shadow magic against their enemies. Warlocks are also known for their ability to command demonic minions. Warlocks, depending on the player's style, specialize in damage-over-time spells (affliction), burst damage (destruction), and the use of their minions (demonology). Warlocks are able to regain mana at the cost of their own health, as well as drain health from their enemies.
Druids are another type of wizard, capable of transformation, healing, and casting spells. They mostly deal physical damage, nature damage, or arcane damage. Depending on the style of the druid, they can be any type of character, a fighter, tank, or healer. If the druid uses Restoration, they have healing abilities. When they use feral combat, they are stronger in melee combat, and gain the power of a warrior (bear) and the skill of a rogue (cat). While in normal form, they are like a slightly weaker version of a mage, dealing arcane and nature damage, and able to summon minions. Druids also have an advantage in combat with the use of travel form, cat form, aqua form, and even air form.
Ragnarok Online
In the Ragnarok OnlineRagnarok Online
Ragnarok Online , often referred to as RO, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game or MMORPG created by GRAVITY Co., Ltd. based on the manhwa Ragnarok by Lee Myung-jin. It was first released in South Korea on 31 August 2002 for Microsoft Windows and has since been released in many other...
MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
, "Magicians" who acquire enough experience are given the choice of becoming a "Wizard". Wizards are powerful spell-casters and have access to a wide array of area of effect
Area of effect
thumb|Screenshot from FreedroidRPG showing Area of Effect.Area of effect is a term used in many role-playing and strategy games to describe attacks or spells that affect multiple targets within a specified area....
spells, including "Storm Gust", "Meteor Storm" and "Lord of Vermilion". However, they have very few hit points, poor evasion capabilities and wear very weak armour. As such, most of the wizards require the support of a "Priest" and/or other party members.
Other games
- In The Bard's Tale, the wizard was only available as a class change from another magic-user class. The wizard class was the most advanced class level, with the character needing to master the third level of spells from at least two other magic-user classes.
- In The Elder ScrollsThe Elder ScrollsThe Elder Scrolls is a role-playing video game series developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.-History:...
series, there are many character class templates related to the concept of wizards, such as "mage," "sorcerer," "battlemage," "necromancer" and "nightblade." - In Lineage IILineage IILineage II is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game for Microsoft Windows. It is a prequel to Lineage, and is set 150 years before the earlier game. It has become very popular since its October 1, 2003 launch in South Korea, reporting 1,000,918 unique users during the month of March 2007...
, Mage is one of the character choices available to each race but dwarf, and Wizard is a class choice for the Human Mage's first class transfer. - In MapleStoryMapleStoryMapleStory is a free-to-play, 2D, side-scrolling massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by the South Korean company Wizet. Several versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions, and each is published by various companies such as Nexon...
, Magician is one of the 1st jobs available for players, on their 2nd job advancement they are called Wizards, on the 3rd - Mages and on the 4th - Arch Mages, or can choose to gain religious powers in which case their 2nd job advancement is Cleric, the 3rd - Priest, and 4th - Bishop. - In RuneScapeRuneScapeRuneScape is a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in January 2001 by Andrew and Paul Gower, and developed and published by Jagex Games Studio. It is a graphical browser game implemented on the client-side in Java, and incorporates 3D rendering...
, a Mage or Wizard is a character class that a person with a high magic level may wish to pick. Mage clothes, consisting of a wizard hat, tunic, cape, staff and legs are available for purchase. Wizards also appear as NPCs on this game, usually following an element or a deity. - In the parody game Kingdom of LoathingKingdom of LoathingKingdom of Loathing is a browser-based, multiplayer role-playing game designed and operated by Asymmetric Publications, including creator Zack "Jick" Johnson and writer Josh "Mr. Skullhead" Nite. The game was released in 2003...
, wizards are available as "Pastamancers" (a play on the sometimes large variety of "-mancers" available in other games, e.g. 'necromancer', 'pyromancer', 'geomancer', &c.) and "Saucerors" (a play on Sorcerers). They are jointly known as the "Chef Magi." - In Guild WarsGuild WarsGuild Wars is an episodic series of online 3D fantasy role-playing games developed by ArenaNet and published by NCsoft. Although often defined as an MMORPG the developers define it as a CORPG due to significant differences from the MMORPG genre. It provides two main modes of gameplay—a cooperative...
, Elementalists fill the role as wizards, focusing on fire, air, water and earth spells. - DiabloDiablo (video game)Diablo is a dark fantasy-themed action role-playing game developed by Blizzard North and released by Blizzard Entertainment on December 31, 1996....
, Diablo IIDiablo IIDiablo II is a dark fantasy/horror-themed hack and slash, with elements of the role playing game and dungeon crawl genres. It was released for Windows and Mac OS in 2000 by Blizzard Entertainment, and was developed by Blizzard North. It is a direct sequel to the 1996 hit PC game, Diablo.Diablo II...
, Diablo II: Lord of DestructionDiablo II: Lord of DestructionDiablo II: Lord of Destruction is an expansion pack for the hack and slash action role-playing game Diablo II...
and Diablo IIIDiablo IIIDiablo III is an upcoming dark fantasy/horror-themed action role-playing game in development by Blizzard, making it the third installment in the Diablo franchise...
all contain a form of wizard: in the first game, the sorcerer, in the second game and expansion, the sorceress and in the third game, the wizard. - Warhammer Online presents the Bright Wizard, the master of the arcane fire known as Aqshy.
- Last Chaos features mage as a class that deals heavy damage from a distance and sorcerer as a kind of a magic-user class that can use elemental magic skills and summon elemental spirits to aid in battle. ArchLordArchLordArchLord is a 3D fantasy MMORPG developed by NHN Games and Codemasters Online Gaming . The game was released in March 2005 in South Korea and October 2006 in North America and Europe, receiving poor reviews from the gaming press. In August 2007, ArchLord became free-to-play to coincide with the...
makes a similar distinction, with mages wielding ranged direct-damage attacks often targeting an area, and elementalists capable of single target attacks and the summoning of pets that buff, heal, debuff or tank. - In Nox, there are Wizard and Conjurer classes. The Wizard has a variety of attack and utility spells including teleportation effects, invisibility and invulnerability. The Conjurer specializes in summoning creatures to fight. It has more effective healing and protection spells, and uses bows and crossbows in combination with offensive spell-casting.
- In the video game The Lord of the Rings: ConquestThe Lord of the Rings: ConquestThe Lord of the Rings: Conquest is an action game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by Electronic Arts. It is based on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and borrows many gameplay mechanics from Pandemic's Star Wars: Battlefront games...
players have a chance to play as a mage. The mage wields a staff and shoots lightning, fires a shockwave, fires a ball of fire and perform melee attacks. There are three mage heroes in the game, who are GandalfGandalfGandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
, SarumanSarumanSaruman the White is a fictional character and a major antagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. He is leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the godlike Valar to challenge Sauron, the main antagonist of the tale, but later on aims at gaining...
, and the Mouth of SauronMouth of SauronThe Mouth of Sauron is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He appears in The Lord of the Rings — specifically in the chapter "The Black Gate Opens" in the third volume, The Return of the King — as the chief emissary of Sauron.He belonged to the race of the Black...
. - In the arcade gameArcade gameAn arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
GauntletGauntlet (arcade game)Gauntlet is a fantasy-themed hack and slash 1985 arcade game by Atari Games. It is noted as the first class-based multiplayer game. Released during the emergence of popularity of other role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, the game was a sensation, being one of the first true dungeon crawl...
, the wizard is one of four characters that a player can choose to guide through mazes, the other three being the elf, the valkyrie and the warrior. - Mages are one of the three playable classes in the Dragon AgeDragon AgeDragon Age: Origins is a single-player role-playing video game developed by BioWare's Edmonton studio and published by Electronic Arts. It is the first game in the Dragon Age franchise...
series (the other two being Warriors and Rogues). Mages are powerful combatants who can employ a variety of different spells, ranging from manipulation of the natural elements to mental control and physical healing. In this universe, mages have a unique position in society - every child born with magical talents must be sent to the Circle of Magi, where they will spend their lives isolated from the outside world, dedicating all their time to lessons from experienced sorcerers. This is due to the fact that mages attract demons and spirits which can possess them and turn them into threats. The role of the Circle of Magi and whether its existence constitutes reasonable concern for the safety of society, or unfair oppression of mages, is central to the plot of Dragon Age IIDragon Age IIDragon Age II is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare's Edmonton studios, and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major game in BioWare's Dragon Age franchise...
.